3 replies to this topic

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Angry, frustrated thoughts come to mind when we think of exxon-we remember the Valdez.
bp will forever be associated with the gulf oil spill.
But chevron?
Sure, they're big oil too, but they don't harm the environment like the others; we might think.
Think again.

Chevron has destroyed a region of the rainforest, and guess what folks? They
refuse to clean it up. And they get away with it (have been getting away with it since 1964)
because the people in the area are poor and don't have the means to fight them.

"Hundreds of people have died from cancer caused by contamination left by Chevron in the
Ecuadoran rainforest, where it drilled under the Texaco brand from
1964 to 1992.
Thousands, more suffer from respiratory illnesses, deformities, skin disease, spontaneous abortions
and other ailments.

They are, according to the oil giant, literally "irrelevant" players in a 19-year-old legal battle against Chevron for one of the
world's largest oil related environmental disasters.

approximately 30,000 other rainforest residents recently won an $18 billion damage award from Ecuador's courts against Chevron.

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the company refuses to pay.

If it did, the money would fund a cleanup of the contamination and provide clean drinking water and health care services for people living in Chevron's former concession area.

In a desperate effort to avoid paying the $18 billion judgment, Chevron lawyer

Doak Bishop of King & Spalding recently said

:

"The plaintiffs are really irrelevant.

They always were irrelevant.

There were never any real parties in interest in this case...

There will be no prejudice to [the rainforest communities] or any individual by holding up

enforcement of the judgment."

http://www.huffingto...kusaolp00000008
Many more links to stories on this site.
http://chevrontoxico.com/

[still learning]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 13 April 2012 - 03:59 AM, said:

......
But chevron?
Sure, they're big oil too, but they don't harm the environment like the others; we might think.
Think again.

Chevron has destroyed a region of the rainforest, and guess what folks? They
refuse to clean it up. ......

Maybe you don't see it this way, but it wasn't Chevron that did the damage.

They might well be legally responsible, but that isn't the same as saying that they did the damage.

The damage was done by Texaco in partnership with Petroequador, an Equadorian government owned oil company.  Along with predecessor companies.  Petroequador finally took over the whole operation. Texaco was supposed to have cleaned up it's part of the mess when they left.  

Later, Chevron bought Texaco.  Liabilities along with assets.  The dispute has to do with whether or not Texaco cleaned up enough.  So Chevron is being sued.

Maybe Chevron would have behaved exactly as Texaco did, they are an oil company, after all.  Or maybe not.  

Writing things like "Chevron has destroyed a region of the rainforest" seems misleading to me..

[MyDigitalpoint]

The sad thing about destruction and predatory activity by large companies is that governments simply imposed them fines or tax penalties without considering  the real cost of  their environmental responsibility, but seeming to be looking over the payment of the sanction like if money could repair Mother Nature.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

still learning, on 13 April 2012 - 11:02 AM, said:

Maybe you don't see it this way, but it wasn't Chevron that did the damage.
Writing things like "Chevron has destroyed a region of the rainforest" seems misleading to me.

From the post above............

"Hundreds of people have died from cancer caused by contamination left by Chevron in the
Ecuadoran rainforest, where it drilled under the Texaco brand from 1964 to 1992.

I don't see how that is misleading, as it was IN the post.